This Silence Must Now Speak

Thomas J. J. Altizer is the leading radical theologian whose creative lifework-a steady output of some seventeen books and tens of articles-spans from the late 1950s to the present. In the last few decades, Altizer has embraced the communicative possibilities of the internet to write circular letters on religious, theological, political, and philosophical matters. The recipients are an international virtual community of scholars and friends who work in a number of disciplines, ranging from cultural studies scholar Mark C. Taylor, to British literary theorist David Jasper, to well-known contemporary philosophers such as Richard Kearney, John D. Caputo, and Edward S. Casey. Like the seventeenth century philosopher Marin Mersenne, who was renowned in the age of Descartes for gathering around him a network of brilliant philosophers and scientists through exchanges of written correspondence, so Altizer in his own domain of philosophical theology has acted as a hub for networking talented thinkers and scholars. In these brilliant letters, which take the form of meditative mini-essays, Altizer writes in a more accessible, personal, and occasionally confessional manner. These letters, an intellectual tour de force, provide another entry into engagement with Altizer's thought.

Thomas J. J. Altizer is the leading radical theologian of our time. His creative lifework-a steady output of some seventeen books and tens of articles-spans from the late 1950s to the present. In the past few decades, Altizer has written letters on religious, theological, political, and philosophical matters to an international virtual community of scholars and friends who work in a number of disciplines, ranging from British literary theorist David Jasper, to well-known contemporary philosophers such as Richard Kearney, John D. Caputo, and Edward S. Casey. Like the seventeenth century philosopher Marin Mersenne, who was renowned in the age of Descartes for gathering around him a network of brilliant philosophers and scientists through exchanges of written correspondence, so Altizer in his own domain of philosophical theology has acted as a hub for networking talented thinkers and scholars. In these brilliant letters, which take the form of meditative mini-essays, Altizer writes in an accessible, personal, and occasionally confessional manner. They are an intellectual tour de force and provide another entry into engagement with Altizer's thought.

Introduction: This Silence Must Now Speak, Mike Grimshaw1. To Brian Schroeder: on Levinas (October/November 1996)2. To Brian Schroeder: on Levinas and eschaton (December 5, 1996)3. To D.G. Leahy: on Evil (January 17, 1997)4. To Lissa McCullough: on Resurrection (June 13, 1997)5. To Brian Schroeder: on Philosophy and Theology (January 18, 1998)6. To Brian Schroeder: on Levinas and Evil (January 28, 1998)7. To Ray L. Hart: on God Being Nothing (April 13, 1998)8. To Thomas A. Carlson: on Hegel and Heidegger (December 30, 1998)9. To D.G. Leahy: on Lecture 'Thinking in the Third Millennium (April 4, 2000)10. To Cyril O'Regan: on Gnosticism (April 12, 2000)11. To Gan Yang: on Satan (September 8, 2001)12. To Lissa McCullough: on Political and Ethical Theology (September 7, 2005)13. To Lissa McCullough: on Abyss (October 13, 2005)14. To Edith Wyschogrod: on Levinas (December 2, 2005)15. To D.G. Leahy: on Badiou and Paul (December 29, 2005)16. To Brian Schroeder: on Nihilism (January 23, 2006)17. To Walter A. Strauss: on Ritual (February 6, 2006)18. To Lissa McCullough: on Sacrifice (February 7, 2006)19. To Friends: on Ratzinger (March 2, 2006)20. To Lissa McCullough: on Genesis and Apocalypse (March 9, 2006)21. To Friends: on The Young Heidegger (June 29, 2006)22. To Friends: on The Young Heidegger (July 5, 2006)23. To Alina N. Feld and Lissa McCullough: on Angst (September 19-22,2006)24. To John B. Cobb, Jr.: on Wittgenstein (September 27, 2006)25. To John B. Cobb, Jr.: on Whitehead (October 4, 2006)26. To Andrew Hass: on Hegel (January 5, 2007)27. To Andrew Hass: on Hegel (January 11, 2007)28. To Friends: on American Religion (January 24, 2007)29. To Friends: on Theopaschism (January 25, 2007)30. To Friends: On Harnack and Theopaschism (January 26, 2007)31. To Lissa McCullough: on Birth of Vision (March 13, 2007)32. To Donald Weinstein: on America (March 23, 2007)33. To Friends: on Marcel Gauchet (March 27, 2007)34. To Friends: On Gauchet and Theology (May 7, 2007)35. To John D. Caputo: On Heidegger (May 17, 2007)36. To Brian Schroeder: On Eschatology (June 7, 2007)37. To John T. Wilcox: on Job (June 13, 2007)38. To Friends: on Hegel (July 10, 2007)39. To John D. Caputo: on Prayer (September 29, 2007)40. To Edward S. Casey: on Ethics (November 23, 2007)41. To Friends: on Altruism (November 28, 2007)42. To Walter A. Strauss: on Altruism (December 4, 2007)43. To Friends: on Demythologizing (October 30, 2008)44. To Friends: on Good Friday (April 10, 2009)45. To Friends: on Ritual (May 8, 2009)46. To Friends: on Taubes' Occidental Eschatology (March 25, 2010)47. To Friends: on Taubes' Occidental Eschatology (March 31, 2010)48. To Friends: on Death (June 4, 2011)49. To Friends: on Weber and Revolution (July 18, 2010)50. To Friends: on Ballets Russes (July 22, 2011)51. To Friends: on Weber and Predestination (July 23, 2010)52. To Andrew Hass: on Aristotle (July 29, 2011)53. To Friends: on Kazin and God (August 2, 2011)54. To Friends: on SPEP and Heidegger (October 26, 2011)55. To Friends: on Occupy Wall Street (November 14, 2011)56. To Friends: on Apocalypse (December 26, 2011)57. To Friends: on The Unique Ground of America (February 11, 2012)58. To Friends: on William Hamilton (March 2012)59. To Friends: on The Middle of Religion and Politics (March 7, 2012)60. To Ray L. Hart: on Radical Catholicism (May 13, 2012)61. To Friends: on Poetry and Homiletics (June 19, 2012)62: To Friends: on Oriental Mysticism and Biblical Eschatology (June 26, 2012)63. To Friends: on Oriental Mysticism and Biblical Eschatology (June 28, 2012)64. To Friends: on Eugene O'Neill (July 18, 2012)65. To Friends: on Revolution and God (November 9, 2012)66. To Friends: on Freedom and Responsibility (February 13, 2013)67. To Friends: on Philosophy and Theology (June 7, 2013)68. To Friends: on Penderecki's The Devils of Loudon (August 6, 2014)69. To Friends: on America and the Death of God (September 22, 2014)70. To Friends: on Cancer and Theology (September 22, 2014)71. To Friends: on Nihilism (March 2, 2015)72. To Friends: on Being and God (March 10, 2015)73. To Friends: on the radical Tillich (April 11, 2015)74. To Friends: On Benedict XVI and Augustinianism (April 26, 2015)List of Recipients